Big news out of the University College of London this week. Researchers have been investigating brain activity of people standing in front of art. I presume this is art that has elements of beauty or positivity. Look what they have discovered.
“Looking at art triggers a surge of feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine into the brain and results in feelings of intense pleasure,” says Professor Semir Zeki. “We have recently found that when we look at things we consider to be beautiful, there is increased activity in the pleasure reward centers of the brain. Essentially, the feel-good centers are stimulated, similar to the stages of love and desire.”
Of course artists have always known that there is something emotional happening when people connect with art but a little scientific reassurance is always good.
Here's one of my portraits from the week. This is Chandra. She surprised me by setting up her photographic equipment and recorded a time-lapse sequence of my initial block-in of her portrait. She graciously uploaded it to You Tube so copy and paste the link below to see what she created. For the tech challenged just go to YouTube and search for Bill Hibberdhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y00ZCuEr5A
Us painters tend to squirrel away in solitary confinement while we work which can be a good thing but this is another reminder to me of the importance of other people in my journey. I never would have pulled off this little video without Chandra's effort. Many thanks.
While we're looking at videos and since you have a long weekend ahead of you let me highly recommend Robert Hughes "The Mona Lisa Curse". If you wonder whats going on in the art world where people pay millions of dollars for shark and pig cadavers, not to mention human excrement this is a great documentary. Check it out and have a great weekend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbQ0GqX0Its&feature=related
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